Members of the boards here at TORn are going to attempt to create an on-line catalog of collectibles related to J.R.R. Tolkien.

It is hoped that this thread will serve as a place to gather the information so that it can be organized and presented on a website, probably somewhere on TheOneRing.net.

This was an idea that was germinating, but after Gramma told me of her extensive info already collected and her shared passion for it all, I decided this needed to happen. The support of TORnados leaves me with no doubt that this can be fun, useful and in the end, quite powerful as a collective project.

HOW: Members wishing to contribute can post information about collectibles in the thread. However, they should first READ the previously posted information to make sure they aren't being redundant or to see if they have different information than what is already presented.

Example:User Barrow Wong decides that his Toy Biz action figure line is A) pretty cool B) is definitely a Tolkien collectible and C) he would like to contribute to the cause. He reads through the posts here and under the "ACTION FIGURE" or "TOY" listing he sees a header that says, "TOY BIZ FIGURES" and looks to see what has been recorded. He finds that UserFall Into The Gap Of Rohan has made a list of Toy Biz Figures. He reads and notices that although the user lists Toy Biz's "Mithril Frodo" "Looks dead in a spider web Frodo" and "Orc Frodo" he has neglected the rare "Nine-fingered-Frodo". He replies to the thread with a brief note aboute "Nine-fingered Frodo". If he feels crazy helpful and because he owns one of the rare figures, he might even get out his digital cam and take a photo at web appropriate resolution and puts the pic in his post. Wow! Thanks Barrow Wong!

WHO: You dear reader, to the best of your ability. This is a 'collective knowledge' project.

WHAT: What is considered a Tolkien collectible you ask? Good question. For purposes of this project, Tolkien collectibles must be (and this may change): A) directly related to J.R.R. Tolkien (surprise surprise!) or his works

B) produced for the public consumer++ * Tolkien's fireplace, once used by him in his house and now for sale on Ebay is NOT of interest to this catalog. It is cool but for our purposes it isn't A COLLECTIBLE, although you might collect it. ++B1) Officially licenced promotional items that were not for sale might be included * A standee of Aragorn from Bashki's LOTR film that was sent out to 1,000 theaters when the film was released may be eligible. (Another discussion)

C) was manufactured by a company, not made by a fan * There are lots cool fan made items out there, like buttons or doll houses. The list and users like Barrow Wong think they are cool but it isn't the focus of this catalog. However there is some grey area here. TheOneRing.net once made buttons that said, "Gandalf For President". They were never for sale, but 1,000 buttons might be considered a collectible. Discussion and debate about such things are welcome.

D) Distinctly and directly Tolkien-themed, not an implied connection. * If the Franklin Mint makes a porcelin piece called "Elven City" and it looks susiciously like Rivendell, we probably wouldn't list it (or maybe we would in its own category of 'almost Tolkien) but if the same Franklin Mint makes the same piece but it is called "Rivendell" well then, it's ours! If a Sweedish Death Metal band makes a song called, "Goblin Parade" it probably wouldn't count but if a band made a song called, "Balrog Bash" or "Gandalf's Funky Chicken" well then, we count it. There is a pretty comprehensive Tolkien music website, but for our purposes, it is too encompasing. (Another debatable topic is what is an "OBVIOUS" Tolkien song and what is "IMPLIED". We will cross the bridge.... maybe).

A list of probable categories might go something like this: books, games, toys, figures, item replicas, prints (art), clothing, jewelry, recordings, adaptations and so on. * The book category, like most of the others, can be broken down further into MANY sub-categories by books written by Tolkien, about Tolkien, Middle-earth, non-M.e., different languages, covers, editions and so forth and so on.

WHEN: Now is good, start now!

If you have questions, ask away! I can't promise answers, but feel free to ask anything. Many things are yet to be determined and this will evolve on the fly. Please don't be too concerned if you know of a better way to do things, you may be right, but we will sort things out. Remember this is a place to gather the information that will later be organized to form a website or become part of a wing of TORn.

I hope it is fun. Enjoy!

Once upon a time I was MrCere. I still am but this name is for posting and being part of the community while that one is for official business. 8-)

I'm a little unsure if how I should post. If I want to post info on Burger King toys or Toy Biz toys, would I first create a post for 'toys' and then under that another post for Burger King (to start an outline for sub threads)? Or perhaps Toys > figures > Burger King? I don't know how much planning we want to do for categories and how much we'll just go for it.

Great idea, SWK. I just hope a few of the people who hang out here have Tolkien collectibles. Actually, I'm now looking forward to going through my own collection, though it's probably pretty paltry compared to some people here *cough* gramma *cough*

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...the information... will later be organized to form a website or become part of a wing of TORn...

*raises hand* ... does that mean we can call it the "One Wing?" Koru: Maori symbol representing a fern frond as it opens. The koru reaches towards the light, striving for perfection, encouraging new, positive beginnings.

"All we have to decide is what to do with the boards that are given to us"

"I take a moment to fervently hope that the camaradarie and just plain old fun I found at TORn will never end" -- LOTR_nutcase

Truthfully, and I know this is going to drive people crazy, but I don't know either.

The #1 goal is to get the information gathered so if it isn't well ordered and organized right away, it will be okay.

Our moderators might be able to move things around on occasion but I think it would be fine to mark, "Burger King Toys" in the subject field and leave it at that, at least for now.

The alternative is to 'pre-subject' a few or a lot of categories and even then we would miss stuff. So, for now, embrace a little chaos and get the info up. Any contribution will be most welcome. And yes, I realize I am not exactly following the example laid out in my introduction.

We could hold off on posting info for a week while we completely organize the subjects but I think we can throw out a lot of info and then organize it as things settle. Okay?

I am not off to see 300!!!!

Once upon a time I was MrCere. I still am but this name is for posting and being part of the community while that one is for official business. 8-)

There was a time when I was terrified of chaos. Lately I've been experimenting: what happens when I let chaos happen? The outcome often isn't that much different than when I spent hours of time and wads of energy planning. It's been a freeing experience.

The Burger King / FOTR promotion ran from November 19 to December 16, 2001

It was comprised of a number of different elements and varied from country to country. This post will deal strictly with the One Ring + 18 Figures on bases as found in the US. Information about other facets of this promotion, or that expands on this facet and this post, could be added as replies to this thread. I've added a few notes as an aside when I think verification or clarification is needed. I'm hoping someone can provide it. I've also added my own 'review' of this set, mostly just observations I think might be interesting or useful for people who collect or are considering collecting these figures.

Figures:

The figures fit into a wedged shape base. At the front of the base was a lever shaped like the One Ring. Pressing on the lever would activate sound (located within the base) or light (located either in the base or in the figure). The back of each base has a pin/peg like protuberance and another smaller lever.

One Ring:

The gold One Ring is held aloft by yellow flames. The top part of the flames are translucent and light up [magpie: I'm not sure what the mechanism is, I don't have mine handy.] The flames are emerging from a bed of red lava. This base is circular with 18 notches around the perimeter of the circle. The One Ring can turn [magpie: add in description 'in a clockwise or counter clockwise direction'? I don't now if it's one of those or both.] On each side of the red base are heat activated words. They read:

"Legend tells of a ring believed lost for centuries, it has now been found..."

"This is the One Ring. An object of unspeakable power which must be destroyed."

The Set:

The peg at the back of each Figure base will fit into a notch of the One Ring's base. As the Ring is rotated, it presses, each in turn, the levers at the back of the Figure bases. This lever activates the sound and/or light within the base or Figure.

Aragorn: see Strider

Arwen: riding Asfaloth

sound: none

light: necklace lights up red

articulation: moves at waist

Bilbo: standing and holding up the One Ring

sound: "The Ring must go to Frodo."

light: none

movement: none

articulation:

longish hair

shorter hair, receding hairline.

Boromir: standing and holding the horn of Gondor

sound: "You carry the fate of us all, little one."

light: none

movement: moves at left shoulder and very slightly at neck

articulation:

cloak covers his feet up to his toes

dark gray cloak, silver buckles and chain mail (visible at elbows)

light gray cloak, gold buckles and chain mail (visible at elbows)

cloak exposes boots

Cave Troll: standing and holding a rock-headed hammer

sound: none

light: the base lights up red illuminating cracks in the ground

movement: moves at neck and both shoulders

articulation:

narrower face, loincloth

wider face, no loincloth

Celeborn: standing in a graceful pose

sound: none

light: a light in the base travels up through the figure to illuminate Celeborn's translucent inner garments.

movement: none

articulation:

silver/gray inner garments

green inner garments.

Elrond: standing in a graceful pose

sound: "You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring."

light: none

articulation: none

Frodo: standing with Sting partially unsheathed and the One Ring on his finger

sound: "Power can be held in the smallest of things." [magpie: who's voice is this? I don't think my sound works and I don't remember Frodo saying this.]

light: a light in the base travels up through Frodo's transparent left food (as if becoming invisible).

articulation: none

Galadriel: standing with hand raised in a wave/salute

sound: none

light: a light in the base travels up through Galadriel's transparent gown.

The light activated by pressing the One Ring at the front of the Figure base is white.

The light activated by pressing the lever at the back of the base (accomplished by turning the One Ring at the center of the assembled set) the light is pink/yellow [magpie: this info is from a website. I don't have my bases handy and can't verify it.]

articulation: none

versions:

[magpie: I'm pretty sure there are variations of this figure but I only have one of my Galadriels in front of me. To my recollection, some had transparent gowns and some had a frosty white, translusent gown.]

Gandalf: standing with his staff, crystal embedded in the top, and his hand on Glamdring

sound: "Speak, friend, and enter."

light: a light in the base travels up the shaft of his staff to illuminate the crystal (at the top) and the top portion of his staff.

articulation: none

Gimli: standing with his axe

sound: "Well, what are we waiting for?"

light: none

articulation: moves at waist

Legolas: standing with his bow drawn

sound: "The Ring must be destroyed."

light: none

articulation: moves at waist

Lurtz: standing with his fist raised and a shield on his arm

sound: none

light: a red light shines through the emblem of the White Hand on his shield and the White Hand glows in the dark.

articulation: moves at right shoulder and neck

Merry: standing holding a lantern

sound: none

light: a red light illuminates the lantern in Merry's hand

articulation: none

versions:

blond hair, green jacket,

brown hair, green jacket,

brown hair, tan jacket.

Orc: kneeling

sound: none light: a red light illuminates the top portion of the Orc's helmet (his eyes?) articulation: moves at his neck (somewhat)

Pippin: standing with his sword/knife partially unsheathed and a short torch/brand in his hand

sound: none

light: a red light illuminates the yellow torch in Pippin's hand

articulation: head can be turned very slightly

Sam: kneeling on one need with a frying pan outstretched in his hand

sound: none

light: a red light in the base simulates a campfire on the ground

articulation:

Saruman: standing with a Palanitr in his hands

sound: none

light: a red light illuminates the purple Palantir in Saruman's hands

articulation:

Strider: standing with his hand on his sword and a flaming brand in his hand

[magpie: I haven't described the bases. My bases are packed away at the moment.]

"The variations in the toys occurred due to changes made during the production of the toys. They were not intentional, but were corrections requested by New Line, the studio producing the film." quote from Raving Toy Maniac. I drew heavily on this site for information.

Magpie's general comments about these figures:

If you weren't able to get all the figures during the promotion, you're left collecting through online resale sites, or by scouring thrift stores and garage sales. Unfortunately, the bases often became separated from the figures and it's hard to find bases at thrift stores and garage sales.

The paint chips fairly easily and if the figures are packed away, they should be wrapped.

The levers in the bases activate the lights (found in the figures) by pushing up on a button at the bottom of the figure. The lever doesn't always push the button up far enough, however, and even if the light is functioning, it doesn't always turn on. Sometimes the front lever will turn it on but not the back lever, or visa versa.

The figures don't always stay put in their bases. I've tried every thing short of epoxy for some of them and they still fall off.

When assembling the Figure bases around the One Ring base, one must carefully consider the figures. The position of some figures conflicts with the position of other figures.

The sound in the bases is powered by a small battery and this battery can go dead. To open the case, one must have a special triangular shaped 'screwdriver'. (This is to prevent the cases being opened at home since the batteries are toxic if swallowed) My husband ground a small screwdriver down into the proper shape for me so I could open the bases. Then, if one has extra bases, one can swap out one battery for another. Or, one could try buying and replacing the batteries. I would caution you that it is difficult to reassemble the bases, however, since there are moving parts that operate the levers.

I love the look of the assembled set. I've found lovely wooden turntables (such are used on dinner tables) that it fits on nicely. But it is large and my house is small. Although I did display the set when I finally completed it (after scouring thrift stores and garage sales for years), I took it down soon after. I find it easier to display just the figures on a small shelf (I use old spice racks). They are difficult to dust, as well although... most figures are. And I do believe I have the dustiest house in the world! Not good for a person with magpie tendencies.

I've also had mine on a wooden turntable... but now I have them standing without their bases under an overturned 5-gallon aquarium I'll have to check mine to compare our experiences with Galadriel's gown, etc. I think it is supposed to be Frodo saying "Power can be held in the smallest of things." It's never said during the films, but it was one of the promotional tag-lines during the run of the series... especially for FotR. I also remember that BK had advertised and had on their website a string of promotions for Two Towers, but it never happened. Patty was very knowlegeable about that as it was happening.

I've got several of BK's promotional things like their tents, poster, crown, etc. I thought it was one of the better gift-promotional programs out there for the films!

I also don't recall if the Ring turns both ways... but something tells me it's only one directions (clockwise) since I had to swing all the way around to hear other voices.

Here are most of my ToyBiz figures. I've tried to find decent pictures for each of them, and I'll betcha all my lebmas that there are some pics that don't go with the figures, but I'll get all of that ironed out as I expand this list. I'll be adding more information for each figure; like, when it was introduced, similarities between different packaging of the same figures, etc. Where it says BOX or MOON, that's my note on the type of packaging it came in... single-figure box or half-moon (larger/rounded) packaging.

PLEASE feel free to correct me if I've gone astray... and PLEASE add to this beginning list of all the LotR figures/toys/COLLECTIBLES available through ToyBiz. Our goal is to have the list/COLLECTIBLES as complete as possible :)

I just can't believe how great this is as a start. You and Magpie have posted stuff beyond my wildest dreams. This is blood-pumping cool, just as the Burger King collection was.

I have two questions (because I am curious)

#1. Did you take all these photos or find them?!

#2. Are your own figures in or out of the packaging?

Both posts are SO fantastic that I fear everybody else will be intimidated! I hope not!

The other thing that makes me sad is that because these aren't posted on "MAIN" or "OFF TOPIC" that people aren't gonna come in to see the work presented her so far. I guess that is okay but you two deserve parades and flowers. . . . One should, if possible, express a negative concept in a positive form: "not meaningful" rather than "meaningless." I agree and will, therefore, now refer to contemporary movie executives as running around "like chickens without their heads cut on." - David Mamet

Once a thread was started for Toy Biz, I did want to provide a link to a resource I've found immensely helpful for a couple of reasons.

The site is The Green Dragon and they have a very comprehensive archive of images of the Toy Biz (and other) figures. They also have the toys listed by release, so one can put some order to the entire set. I used to check this site a lot for LOTR-Toy Biz news

Images: not only do they have the 'posed in a setting' image, for most figures they have a image of the box and the accessories. For the first figure I clicked on, there were 18 different images: close ups, back of the figure, articulation, box, etc.

This is especially useful for those of us who gleefully open our boxes up and display the figures... and then lose track of what arrows and swords go with what figure. I do open my boxes. I know everyone says the figures are worth more in the box but they're only worth more if I want to sell them. The only reason I'd want to sell them is because I've become bored with them and then I would have reaped no enjoyment from them while I owned them. It does make good sense if one is investing in the figures to keep them in the box. But I don't have the space to buy a bunch of figures, hold onto them for years and then try to sell them so as to make some money off them. I wonder what the return rate is on those kinds of investments as well. I think I'm probably in the minority... as I usually am and all you who keep them in the box have wonderful reasons why that works for you. I just get to enjoy mine without a plastic vacuum wrap around it.

Although my goal is to save a complete set of images for every figure I own, I haven't done that yet. I always worry about sites like this disappearing and I think it would be good if someone here privately archived it.* For the finished TORn project, we could link to them... but I'd be more comfortable if they'd let TORn use their photos with some sort of credit and link to the site... again, paranoia about the good stuff that disappears.

*I have some interest in doing that for personal reasons. And if no one else wants to, I could start chipping away at it. But it would be very low on my priority list and might never get done. So I would not discourage anyone who's interested.

Yeah... these are the figures I have in my own collection. Some are out of the packages and have been played with by my g'kiddies (CAREFULLY!) and many are still in their boxes... but I've kept the packaging for all of them.

I meant to give credit to ToyBiz/Mattel website (which I'll do in my revised list) where I got 90% of the pictures. Some are off ebay. I don't have a digital camera that works... so I couldn't take the shots myself. I am getting this one to be workable (gift that came w/no connectors) so I can take pictures of my Sideshow and other treasures.

I can see where some of about 5 pictures don't match the description, and I've made note of what needs to be fixed... and I have a few more to add, but didn't realize they weren't there until I went to post these.

The nasty NASTY part of this is that now I'm lusting after several other figures I've discovered in my rutting about! omg. *twitch*

You should see my living room! I've pulled EVERYTHING out, and there's a path from my computer to the TV to the refridgerator! *shakes head* Cripes, this is fun! :D I feel like Smaug with my hoard all around me!

I saw that you posted on Main for Magpie and me :) I didn't feel comfortable doing that... so thanks! I really don't want people to feel it's a competition of "I've got more stuff than you!" I've been collecting these and have been given some as gifts for 5 years now... mostly eBay discoveries... and I've been working an extra job to pay for my obsession. So while it DOES look like I'm nuts, well.... uh.... I am ;)

I was up early and so I let my obsessive side out and started saving. I have been saving things as 'websites': html pages with links. They can be viewed off line or could be uploaded (which I won't do since it's all technically the property of Green Dragon.

Anyhow, for kicks, I clicked on 6" Singles FOTR Wave 1: Legolas... cause I do loves my Elves. It would make sense not to duplicate work so how about I work on the figures for

If you want to display these figures, they really need stands. I put off buying them because I'm cheap but my figures kept falling over and every time they did, weapons would go flying everywhere. It drove me nuts. Finally I splurged.

Real Action Figure Type II Stands created for Star Wars figures work for the LOTR Toy Biz figures (assuming they have holes in the bottom of their feet). You might be able to get buy with one stand for each figure (one foot fits on one stand) but the figure will lean (it's like standing on a curb) so two stands works best.

The company's site IS HERE. I've seen them at one other collectibles site but I wasn't thrilled with how my order went down and if I ever want more, I'll be tempted to just order from the company that makes them.

The shipping costs on these things is exorbitant. I tried and failed to either find them in town or to get a brick and mortar store to carry them (so I wouldn't have to pay the shipping.) It might be worth it to combine orders with other collectors that you know and trust.

There a little old man in his little old hobby (VERY hard not to type hobbity there!) who I may be able to work with. Finding other collectors who would like to share in the shipping is a great idea :) Thanks!